American Casinos Research Articles

The customer-brand relationship in the gambling industry: positive play predicts attitudinal and behavioral loyalty

ABSTRACT This research draws on the model of positive play (i.e. responsible gambling) to investigate whether positive play beliefs (e.g. accurate understanding about the odds of success on games of chance) and behavior (e.g. setting a limit on gambling expenditures) are associated with attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty. Results from Study 1 indicated that among American casino loyalty program members (N = 188), positive play was predictive of attitudinal loyalty when controlling for disordered gambling symptomatology. In Study 2, using survey and player-account data from 383 members of a Canadian casino loyalty program, we found that positive play was negatively associated with behavioral loyalty, but that this association was eliminated after accounting for disordered gambling symptomatology. These results suggest that fostering positive play may help increase positive perceptions of a casino and its loyalty program without undermining the amount of money a player spends at that casino.

Las Vegas in Singapore: Violence, Progress, and the Crisis of Nationalist Modernity

Las Vegas in Singapore: Violence, Progress, and the Crisis of Nationalist Modernity

Senior leadership succession and market share: An econometric case study on Native American casinos

Little is known on how turnover and senior leadership attributes affect the long-term performance of a casino resort. The ability to longitudinally measure the turnover effect on market share has been problematic due to most gaming markets exhibiting dynamic conditions with exogenous factors that provide competitive advantages. This study analyzed the effect the turnover rate and successor attributes of the CEO and Chairman of Tribal Council positions have on their casinos’ market share within a balanced oligopolistic market of Connecticut. Additionally, this study investigated which attributes amplify the sensitivity of the CEO tenure status to market share growth. The results suggest increased CEO turnover and CEO hires who already had prior CEO casino experience hinder long-term market share. Moreover, the tenures of more experienced CEOs were less susceptible to market share performance. The results can be leveraged for improved hiring practices at the senior levels of Native American casinos.

On being loyal to a casino: The interactive influence of tier status and disordered gambling symptomatology on attitudinal and behavioral loyalty.

Background and AimsCasino loyalty programs are marketing strategies designed to foster attitudinal (i.e., identification and satisfaction) and behavioral (i.e., spending) loyalty among gamblers by offering rewards to members. Casino loyalty programs use a tier-based structure to segment members who spend more money into higher tiers, where they receive better rewards (compared to lower tiered members). Tier-based structures may encourage increased expenditure among patrons, especially among players living with a gambling disorder. The current work aimed to examine whether tier status and disordered gambling symptomatology interact to predict attitudinal and behavioral loyalty.MethodsStudy 1 used a cross-sectional design to examine whether tier status and disordered gambling symptomatology interact to predict self-reported loyalty among a sample of American casino loyalty program members (N = 396). In Study 2, archival player account data from Canadian casino loyalty program members (N = 649) were analyzed to examine whether tier status and disordered gambling symptomatology interact to predict objective measures of behavioral loyalty.ResultsThe greatest effect of tier status on attitudinal and behavioral loyalty was observed among non-problem gamblers in the highest tiers. Tier status, however, did not influence loyalty among members high in disordered gambling symptomatology.DiscussionResults suggest that once gambling has become problematic, loyalty programs may not influence player attitudes and behaviors. Non-problem gamblers may be particularly susceptible to the tiered structure of the programs.ConclusionNon-problem gamblers may benefit from casino loyalty programs in the short-term but longitudinal research is needed to understand the long-term influence of membership.

\u2018Spatio-market practices\u2019: conceptualising the always spatial dimensions of market making practices

Socio-material conceptualisations of markets suggest that they are spatial formations. Yet, the everyday practical and spatial dimensions of market making have received little explicit attention. We thus introduce the concept of spatio-market practices, drawing on key ideas in market studies and spatial theory. We argue that examining spatio-market practices (and thus the spatial dimensions of markets) promises to provide fresh insight regarding what it takes to realise markets, their uneven distribution, and what and whom markets are (and are not) designed to serve. To demonstrate what the concept calls for, supports and promises, we take Humphreys’ (2010) influential paper as a starting point and draw on other secondary sources in order to articulate an alternative and spatially-oriented account of the growth and legitimacy of the American casino gambling market. This paper, in turn, contributes a subtle and yet incisive shift in thinking, which supports a more explicit means of exploring markets as spatial formations.

Unkind roll of the dice: drivers of lottery crimes in the United States

ABSTRACT Using data on U.S. states, this paper studies the factors driving lottery-related crimes, focusing on spillovers from other gambling and corruption. Although state-sponsored lotteries have become quite popular in the United States in recent years, formal research on their causes is rather limited. Results show corruption to increase lottery-related crimes, while higher lottery prize money and greater economic prosperity have the opposite effect. We find crowding out from electronic gaming machines. However, competition from Native American casinos or casino gambling crimes does not significantly impact lottery crimes.

Anticipated Entry and Entry Deterrence: Evidence from the American Casino Industry

Using new data on entry plans into the American casino industry, I find that incumbent firms invest in physical capacity when threatened with a nearby entry plan, and these strategic investments deter eventual entry. Consistent with an entry-deterrence motive, incumbents respond to the threat of entry when entry is uncertain, but not when entry is assured. The average capacity expansion of 2,300 square feet is associated with a 6.8-percentage-point greater likelihood that the entry plan fails. These findings show that investments in deterrence are viable, especially when new entrants face other significant barriers to entry. Data and the online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2730 . This paper was accepted by Bruno Cassiman, business strategy.

Leverage and strategic preemption: Lessons from entry plans and incumbent investments

This paper empirically investigates the effect of leverage on strategic preemption. Using new data on entry plans and incumbent investments from the American casino industry, I find that high leverage prevents incumbents from responding to entry threats. Facing the same set of entry plans, low-leverage incumbents expand physical capacity (by 30%), whereas high-leverage incumbents do not. This difference in investment matters because capacity installations preempt eventual entry. Stock market reactions to withdrawn plans imply that effective preemption increases incumbent firm value by 5%. My findings suggest that leverage matters for industry composition, not just firm-level investment.

Casino “Backrooming” and the Law: An Analysis of False Imprisonment Cases in American Casinos

Gaming Law Review and EconomicsVol. 20, No. 1 ArticlesCasino “Backrooming” and the Law: An Analysis of False Imprisonment Cases in American CasinosHarrison WebbHarrison WebbSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:12 Feb 2016https://doi.org/10.1089/glre.2016.2015AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 20Issue 1Feb 2016 InformationCopyright 2016, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.To cite this article:Harrison Webb.Casino “Backrooming” and the Law: An Analysis of False Imprisonment Cases in American Casinos.Gaming Law Review and Economics.Feb 2016.38-48.http://doi.org/10.1089/glre.2016.2015Published in Volume: 20 Issue 1: February 12, 2016PDF download

New Evidence on the Price Effects of Cigarette Tax Competition.

Multiple studies have shown that cigarette taxes are more than fully passed through to cigarette prices and that access to a nearby state with a lower cigarette tax also reduces local cigarette prices. We study two other sources of tax competition: nearby Native American reservations and online sales. Using quarterly data on local cigarette prices from 1976-2003, we show that the opening of a Native American casino within 25 miles of a city center is associated with a $0.016-$0.027 lower per-pack price, while a 50 percentage point increase in internet penetration is associated with a $0.22-$0.25 per-pack price reduction. These effects are not observed for other local prices for which there is no potential tax savings. Our results further our understanding of how tax competition affects local cigarette prices and provide context to studies linking Native American reservations and internet penetration to cigarette smuggling.

The Association between Increased Economic Resources and Birth Weight Among Native Americans in California: A Natural Experiment

BackgroundNative American‐owned casinos have been associated with increased economic resources and decreased risk for childhood overweight/obesity among Native Americans.ObjectiveWe test whether casinos are associated with large‐ for‐gestational age (LGA) (>90th percentile compared to sex‐and‐gestational‐age‐specific reference population values). Secondary analyses examined the relationship between casinos and excessive gestational weight gain and maternal pre‐pregnancy body mass index (BMI).MethodsData came from California birth records and included 23,237 births (between 1987 to 2011) to Native American women living near tribal lands. Casino presence and size was indicated by the number of slot machines per Native American living on tribal lands in each zip code in each year ('slots per capita'). Zip code‐fixed‐effects linear and linear probability regression models compared communities to themselves over time, before and after the opening/expansion of casinos, to estimate the relationships between casino openings/expansions and LGA, excessive gestational weight gain, and maternal BMI.ResultsOpening or expanding a casino was associated with a decreased risk of LGA (bslotspercapita = ‐0.0061 (95% CI: ‐0.0095, ‐0.0027); bslotspercapita_squared= 0.00009 (95% CI: 0.000037, 0.00015), and with lower maternal BMI (b= ‐0.12 (95%CI: ‐0.19, ‐0.04), but was not associated with excessive gestational weight gain (b= 0.001 (95%CI: ‐0.006, 0.008).ConclusionsEconomic resources from Native American casinos are associated with decreased risk for LGA and decreased maternal BMI among Native Americans.

Leverage and Strategic Preemption: Lessons from Entry Plans and Incumbent Investments

This paper empirically investigates the effect of leverage on strategic preemption. Using new data on entry plans and incumbent investments from the American casino industry, I find that high leverage prevents incumbents from responding to entry threats. Facing the same set of entry plans, low leverage incumbents expand physical capacity by 30 percent, whereas high leverage incumbents do not. This difference in investment matters because capacity installations preempt eventual entry. Indeed, stock market reactions to withdrawn plans imply effective preemption increases incumbent firm value by 5 percent. My findings suggest that leverage matters for industry composition, not just firm-level investment.

Examining the Link Between Poverty and Obesity

Poverty is a social determinant of childhood obesity. Investigators assessed whether increased income from new American Indian casinos reduced the risk

Valuing Casinos as a Local Amenity

AbstractThis paper employs a Rosen–Roback model to evaluate the bottom line impact of casinos on quality of life and on business productivity in their local area. This approach provides a large practical improvement over the cost–benefit accounting style approach that dominates previous research on casino impacts. Additionally, this study extends the literature by distinguishing among casino types and finds different effects associated with Native American gaming, isolated non‐Native American gaming, and competitive gaming towns. Two‐stage least squares estimation suggests that casinos of all types do very little to affect household quality of life in either direction, although Native American casinos and gaming towns have generated positive business productivity effects. Isolated non‐Native American casinos have not generated productivity effects, but the analysis shows that they could generate positive productivity effects if they located in less densely populated areas and if they are of sufficient size.

Casinos, casino size, and crime: A panel data analysis of Michigan counties

Abstract Growth in legal gaming in the United States over the past quarter century or so is well-documented. One important factor fueling this growth was the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, which permitted Native American tribes to establish, under agreements or “compacts” with the states in which they are located, casinos offering what is known as Class III gaming: slot machines, blackjack, roulette, and other games. Since the passage of the Act, there have been 21 Native American casinos established in Michigan. Also, three non-Native American casinos opened in Detroit in 1999 and 2000. This growth in the number of casinos has sparked a wide-ranging debate over the social and economic impacts of casino development. The purpose of this research is to focus on the crime issue in the broader casino debate. We investigate the impact of these Michigan casinos on the rates of burglary, robbery, larceny and motor vehicle theft (property crimes) in casino host counties as well as in nearby counties. We employ a panel data set with annual observations on all 83 Michigan counties for the period 1994–2010. The dataset includes crime rates taken from the FBI crime data series, variables for the presence of a casino in a county or in a nearby county, the scale of a casino's operations as measured by revenues, and a variety of control variables suggested by the broader literature investigating the factors that determine crime rates generally. Our results suggest that in most cases the property crime rates studied are not affected by the presence or size of a casino in a county or in a nearby county. The largest such impact, which is negative, is for motor vehicle theft. The size of a casino does have a small positive effect on the motor vehicle theft rate.

Anticipated Entry and Entry Deterrence: Evidence from the American Casino Industry

Using new data on entry plans into the American casino industry, I find that incumbent firms invest in physical capacity when threatened with a nearby entry plan, and these strategic investments deter eventual entry. Consistent with an entry deterrence motive, incumbents respond to the threat of entry when entry is uncertain, but do not invest in physical capacity when entry is assured. Further, the average capacity expansion is associated with a 6.8 percentage point increase in the likelihood that the entry plan fails. These findings show that investments in deterrence are viable, especially when new entrants face significant other barriers to entry.

American Casinos Bring Lawsuits to Macau

American Casinos Bring Lawsuits to Macau

American Casino & Entertainment Properties LLC v. Marchex Sales, Inc.Case No. 2:12-cv-01054, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93476 (D.NV., July 5, 2012)

American Casino &amp; Entertainment Properties LLC v. Marchex Sales, Inc.<i>Case No. 2:12-cv-01054, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93476 (D.NV., July 5, 2012)</i>

Impacts of Native American Casinos and Resorts on Local Hotels

Gaming operations of Native American tribes have become a major engine of economic development by generating significant revenues to tribes and outsiders. This paper investigates the impact of Native American enterprises on local economies by evaluating the impact of opening a Casino Resort near the City of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Specifically we evaluate the impact on the occupancy rates and the daily room rates for the hotels in the City. Our analysis concludes that the establishment of Indian casinos and resorts is generally beneficial for the wider regional tourism industry.

Why We are Outraged: An Economic Analysis of Internet Gambling

Why are we outraged? The United States is outraged because no taxes are paid on the $6 billion that is shipped abroad. The misery and expenses that follows internet gambling is distributed among the various states, however. Several solutions to the lack of jurisdiction over internet gambling sites have been proposed. First, the 2006 Act forbids Internet sites from receiving money from U.S. financial institutions and forbids U.S. financial institutions from sending payments to foreign sites. Second, Ryan Landes proposes a voluntary regulation of foreign sites, who agree to reduce underage gambling and fraud, as well as pay taxes. Landes argues that these are the key problems with internet gambling. His proposal reads like a wish list for existing bricks and mortar casinos as it would permit them to own internet gambling sites. My proposal is related, but different. I argue that, if the foreign site agrees to pay taxes and will work to reduce underage gambling and fraud, we will allow their designated employees to visit the U.S. Pointedly, I do not open the door to American casinos to operate internet gambling sites, nor propose a new agency. In the final analysis, the costs of gambling may exceed its benefits.